Engine



Decfls, 1934. A] J. MEYER 1,984,537

ENGINE Filed Jan. 30, 1933 ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 18, 19.34y

ENGINE Andre J. Meyer, Grosse Pointe Village, MichQas-g A signor to Continental Motors Corporation, De`

troit, Mich., a. corporation of Virginia l Application January at, 1933,. serial N6.' ,654,224 l :zo claims. (C1. 12s-81) This invention relates to internal combustion A further object "of my. invention resides in engines and refers more particularly to engines the provision of simple and: inexpensive means of the sleeve'valve type as distinguished rfrom for'controlling and restricting the` expansion of poppetvalve types of engines. the innerend of the-cylinder whereby to .over- Heretofore lin engines of the aforesaid sleeve come the aforesaid diiiiculties;Vv

valve type, difficulty has been experienced by In carrying outmy invention, I have provided reason of excessive clearance occurringbetween in the specific embodiment illustrated, aband theV sleeve valve or sleeve valves and the assosecured around the inneriend ofthe.: cylinder. ciated cylinder. This excessive 'clearance is This band is placed undertension vas the cylinlO largely experienced in regions of the sleeve valve der tends to'expand and restricts the expansion l0 relatively remote from the combustion chamber ofthe cylinder to the desired degree. If desired and results in excessive oil pumping between the theband lmay be shrunk on the cylinder end `crank 'case and combustion chamber, loss of under an initial tension wherebyto increase its compression, excessive .carbonizatiom and genaction in holding the cylinder end against un- 15 eral engine inefficiency. due expansion. I -1 yIt is :customary to'arrange the parts` so that v ,'If'desired, and by way of .modica'tion the the` outer end ofthe sleeve is exposedto the inner sleeve end or regio-n vthereof vworking at combustion chamber, while the inner end is relathe inner -cylinder end may be provided with a tively remote therefrom, with the result` that the ring of :suitable `metal having relatively a high UNITE-p STATES PATENroFFICE outer end expands under thepresence of heat coefficient of expansion whereby 4to-ii'ncrease its 20 much more than theninner end which is relaexpansion and maintain a iit 'with' the cylinder. tively cooler. The associated cylinder is usually In the latter instance, thezcylind'er'may o-r may vofumuch greater cross-section thanthel sleeve not 4have the expansioncontrolling bandaforevalvenso that the inner end of the cylinder is said -and the sleeve maybe made somewhat 425 relatively hot by reason of good `heat conduce heavier or. of greatercrosssse'ction in order to 25 tivity conditions froml the outer end at the comreceive the' expansion band. bustion chamber to the inner end. The sleeve, Referring to the accompanying 'drawing illushowever, is usually made of yrelatively thin crosstrating my invention, f

sections to reduce 4its inertia factor and as a re- Y Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation view through a sult heat is `'not conducted tothe inner end as typical view of my engine, f Y 30 readily as the conditions encounteredin the cyl- Fig. 2A isan enlarged detail' sectional view of inder aforesaid. This results ina good working the inner end ofthe cylinder and'sleeve vwhen fit between the sleeve and cylinder at the outer the engine is cold, I Y or combustionchamber ends thereof, but excesvliig. 3 is a corresponding view when the engine .35 sive clearance at the inner ends thereof, Asince ishot showingin exaggerated form the action 35 Yof the cylinder expands much more thanrthe ininder, Y K I i i ner end .of the sleeve. vTherefore, even though 4 is a corresponding view without the exthe sleeve is tted properly to the cylinder when pansion controller illustrating the objectionable after the engine has been runningythe inner end of my expansion controlling means for the cyl- `40 theengine is coldL the sleeve does not expand clearance developed when the engine isv hot, 40

uniformly throughout its length when'the enl Fig. -5 Vis a corresponding view offa modificagine becomes hot, although the GylindereX'- tion, illustrating the expansion controllingdepands more nearly Auniformly owing to its good vice applied tothe sleeve, the enginexbeing under heat kconductivity as aforesaid. i i a cold condition, and C The foregoing conditions are greatly aggra- Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to Fig. 5 under -45 vated when the cylinder is formed ofk aluminum conditions of hot engine operation. o'r similar alloy having good heat conductivity, In the drawing, A represents the engine herein and wherein the sleeve is formed ofgfsteel or an illustrated 4as the radial air cooled-4 cylinder type, alloy having relatively-low Aheat conductivity. although my invention is Vequally adapted to It` is anv Object 0f my invention t0 provide other types of engines havingiany arrangement '50 means OI OVeICOmng the afOl'eSaid difultea' of' cylinders. The. engine illustrated is the sin- `whereby the inner and outer endsofthe sleeve gle sleeve valve type 'wherein a sleeve structure will maintain agood seal or fit with the cylinder 10, operating in cylinder structure 11 is given under. fhot as wellas under-coldl' conditions a combined oscillating and reciprocating move- ,0i engine operation, *l u ment, well known in they art, in accomplishing *5.5

- usual crankshaft 13, the latter driving suitable gearing 14 for operating a crank 15 and ball, 16, the latter operating in the socket 17 carried by the sleeve 10 for driving.- the same as the usual cyclical events of the engine. Any other form of sleeve valve operation, such as rotary or reciprocating may be employed if desired since my invention is not limited in its broader aspects to the provision of a sleeve of the combined movement type. Furthermore, a plurality of sleeve valves may be employed, if desired, `as is customary in certain types of sleeve valve engines. 1 1 3 Engine A has a crankcase 12 housing the aforesaid. The crank 15 slides in the ball 16 and the latter moves in socket 17 to permit the sleeve movement as is well known in the; art.

Cylinder 11 is secured to crankcase 12 by' an annular flange 18 and fasteners 19, the inner` cylinder end at 20 being fitted with a band 21 preferably shrunk on vthe cylinder. Where cylinder 11 is aluminum, the band 21 may be steel and where cylinder `11 is of .iron or other material,'the `band may be formed of steel or an alloy of relatively low coefficient of expansion. 'I'he usual piston 22 is connected by rod 23 to crankshaft 13, the combustion chamber BV Abeing located, as usual, above the piston within' the outer portions of cylinder 11 andsleeve '10. After the engine vhas been run, the outer portions of cylinder 11 and sleeve 10A expand radially as generally indicated in Fig. 3, substantially maintaining the clearance or' fit 24 between the cylinder and sleeve, but the r inner end of the sleeve tends to maintainA its original or cold diameter of Fig. 2. This is` shown exaggerated for illustration in Fig. 3 wherein the inner cylinder end 20 is prevented from undue expansion by the tension vband 21 so as to maintain the desired clearance 24a between the inner cylinder end and portions of the sleeve operably associated therewith. f In Fig. 4 I have illustrated the objectionable clearance 24b heretofore experienced when cylinder 11' is not -fitted with my improvements.

Referring to Fig. l5, the cylinder 11c may be conventional in that it is not fitted with my expansion controlling ring of Fig."1, and -in lieu thereof the sleeve 10a is fitted with an inserted band 21a at the location where expansion is Adesired to be effected; g 'Ihe band 21a may be of any suitablemetal or alloy having a relatively high coemcient of expansion as compared to that of sleeve 10@ whereby under the influence of engine heat the band 21a kcauses the portions ofvsleeve 10e associated therewith, toexpand substantially with the expansion of the inner end of the cylinder 11C' so as to maintain the desired clearance 24. The innerA end ofthe sleeve may be left uncontrolled and maybe permitted to `find its normal diameter relatively smaller than that of the band 21, as illustrated in exaggeratedk form in Fig. 6.

The band 21a may be castV in position, expanded into its `sleeve receiving recess 25, or otherwise securedin place. The 'sleeve maybe expanded by `heating and the band 21a contracted by cooling in liquid air or other cooling medium to facilitate its installation. If desired, other portions of the cylinder and/or sleeve may be controlled according to the teachings of my invention or the sleeve and/or cylinder may be fitted with expansion controlling bands or the like for their entire working lengths as will be readily understood. Various other modifications will be apparent from my disclosure and it is not my intention to limit my invention to the particular constructions and arrangements of parts which I have shown and described for purposes of illustration.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In an engine, a crankcase, a cylinder structure having an annularv flange spaced outwardly from the inner` end thereof, said flange being seated on said crankcase, a sleeve valve structure operably associated within said cylinder structure and having a portion thereof engaging the inner end of said cylinder structure inwardly of said flange, and a band fitted to one of said structuresadapted to vary the normal expansion thereof under engine heat whereby to substantiallyA maintain a predetermined clearance between said' sleeve structure and said inner end of said cylinder structure.

2. In an engine, a cylinder structure, a sleeve -valve' structure operating within the cylinder structure, and a band fitted to one of said structures in the vicinity of the inner end of said cylinder structuretwhereby to'maintain substantially uniform clearance at opposite ends of the cylinder. i i

3.A In an engine, an aluminum cylinder structure, a Asleeve valve structure operating within said-cylinder structure and having a coefficient of' expansion less than that of said cylinder structure whereby during engine operation excessive clearance` `tends `to result between the cylinderand sleeve structures at the end of the cylinder structure. opposite to that having the combustion chamber, and a metal band fitting one of said 4structures in the region of the first said cylinder. end and adapted to restrict said excessive clearance tendency. i

4. In an engine, a` cylinder structure, a sleeve valve structure operably associated therewith, `and a band associatedwith one of said structures for controlling expansion thereof.

\ 5. In an engine, a cylinder structure, a sleeve valve structure operably associated therewith,

and a band associated withone of said struci tures for lcontrolling expansion thereof, said band being located in the region of the inner end `of said cylinder structure.

6; In an engine of the sleeve valve type, a

cylinder, sleeve valve means operable within said cylinder, and means including an element having aV different co-eflicient of expansion than said cylinder and acting on said cylinder to restrain expansion thereof under the influence of engine heat.

7. In an engine of the sleeve valve type, a cylinder, sleeve valve means operable within said cylinder, and means including an element having a'different co-efficient of expansion than said cylinder and acting'on the irmer end of said vcylinder to restrain expansion thereof under the `influence of engine heat.

8. In anengine of the sleeve valve type, a cylinder,` sleeve valve means operable within said cylinder, and a tension band surrounding said inder, sleeve Lvalve means operable within said cylinder, 'and means including an element having a different co-efcient of expansion than said cylinder and acting on the inner end of said cylinder to restrain expansion thereof under the influence of engine heat, the outer portion of said cylinder being free to expand normally.

11. In an engine of the sleeve valve type, a cylinder, sleeve valve means operable within said cylinder, and a tension band surrounding the inner end of said cylinder to restrain expansion thereof, the outer end of said cylinder being free to expand.

12. In an engine of the sleeve valve type, a cylinder, a sleeve valve operating within the cylinder, said cylinder and sleeve tending to develop excessive clearance therebetween in a region relatively remote from the combustion chamber, and means including an element having a different co-eicient of expansion than said cylinder and acting on said cylinder at said region for restraining normal expansion thereof whereby to oppose said tendency for excessive clearance.

13. In an engine of the sleeve valve type, a cylinder, a sleeve valve operating Within the cylinder, said cylinder and sleeve tending to develop excessive clearance therebetween in a region relatively remote from the combustion chamber, and a tension band acting on said cylinder at said region for restraining normal expansion thereof.

14. In an engine, a cylinder structure, and a tension band associated with said cylinder structure for restraining normal expansion thereof.

15. In an engine, a cylinder, a sleeve valve operably associated with said cylinder, and means including an element having a co-eicient of expansion different than that of the sleeve valve and carrid 'by the sleeve valve for controlling expansion thereof.

16. In an engine, a cylinder, a sleeve valve operably associated with said cylinder, and means including an element having a co-eiiicient of expansion different than that of the sleeve valve and carried by the sleeve valve for increasing the normal expansion tendency thereof under the inuence of engine heat. l

17. A sleeve valve for use in engines, said sleeve having an element carried thereby and adapted to modify expansion of the sleeve when subjected to engine heat.

18. In an engine sleeve valve, a band forming 1 a part thereof and adapted to modify expansion of the sleeve.

19. In an engine of the structure described, a cylinder structure, a sleeve valve structure operable within said cylinder structure, and expansion controlling means carried by one of said structures and responsive to temperature changes of said structures for modifying the normal relative expansion thereof.

20. In an engine of the structure described, a cylinder structure, a sleeve valve structure operable Within said cylinder structure, and expansion controlling means carried by said cylinder structure and operable in response to temperature changes in said cylinder structure for mod- 3 ifying the normal relative expansion of said structures whereby to control the clearance Ibetween said structures.

ANDRE J, MEYER` 

